Mayor of East Palestine, Ohio, Trent Conaway to speak at Republican National Convention

According to Politico, Conaway will address the delegates on Wednesday, July 17, the convention's third night. It is slated to be the same night that the yet-to-be-named vice presidential candidate is scheduled to speak. A source told the outlet that the schedule is subject to change.

East Palestine, Ohio was the site of a toxic train derailment in 2023 that poisoned water and caused evacuations. A “rail car’s defective wheel bearing caused the derailment and subsequent hazardous material release” on February 3, 2023. Investigators later found that the decision by the local incident commander three days later to conduct a vent and burn of the contents of the tank cars carrying vinyl chloride monomer “was based on incomplete and misleading information provided by Norfolk Southern officials and contractors,” according to a press release.

Democratic President Joe Biden was heavily criticized for not visiting the site for a year. GOP frontrunner Donald Trump made his way to the site with relieved supplies in the days following the crash.

The mayor has been very critical of Biden and his administration’s response to the accident. Conaway said during a Feb. 2023 appearance on Fox News that Biden’s decision to travel to Ukraine while the crisis in East Palestine was developing was “the biggest slap in the face,” adding, “That tells you right now he doesn’t care about us.” Just weeks after the disaster, former President Donald Trump visited the site and accused Biden of treating the community with “indifference and betrayal.”

The announcement of Conaway’s appearance sparked speculation that Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who is under consideration to be Trump’s vice presidential pick, may be the current front-runner for the slot after it was revealed that he played a key role in helping to organize the trip. Vance and Conaway accompanied Trump during his survey of East Palestine. Axios reported that Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son is also scheduled to address the RNC delegates on Wednesday.